Hostile Takeover
by Undead Prowess
Summary: When the furless begin to encroach on the kingdom's territory, King Julien has some harsh decisions to make with advice from Clover and Maurice.
1. Growl Party

King Julien was wildly dancing on the broad leaves that covered the dance floor, Boombox vibrating the very air with its sweet, catchy music. His kingly duties finished for the day (at least as far as he was concerned!), he was ready to let loose, and he had already set today up as a dance party anyway. A few other lemurs were there as well, enjoying the fun.

Not to be outdone when one of them performed a tricky dance move and pulled the crowd's attention, he went to pull his own move, smoothly waving his tail, when a loud noise cut the fun short. He jumped, still in a flamingo-like position, then pushed his crown straight in annoyance. "Okay, who just ruined my best dance with that?"

The noise was jagged and grating; thunderous, almost. The other lemurs had ducked, and weren't getting back up out of fear.

"King Julien, what was that?" Ted asked, his tail bushed out in fear and his voice high and squeaky. He was hiding beneath a husk-woven table. "Are we all going to-"

"No, Ted!" King Julien snapped before he could shout the phrase he already knew was coming. "We are not going to die." Standing in the large, hollowed-out bottom of a tree, he wondered what he'd do. The dance room was more private and hidden, seeing as he had intended it to be unknown to Clover, Maurice, and Mort. Large, jungle leaves covered the floor and the walls had been smoothed out to make the dying tree look… well, not dying.

"Well, it wasn't me," Horst muttered, the dark-furred lemur shrugged and took a sip of his coconut-shell beverage.

When the noise didn't come back, King Julien shrugged as well, a smile returning to his face. "Alright then, peoples! Back to it." He flicked his tail and proceeded to shake his body in a single fluid motion, before performing a whole set of dance moves. He was a bit oblivious to the fact he was only joined by two other lemurs. Only a few moments passed before the grating, volatile noise came again. Ted made a break for the creaky door and dashed off.

"Alright! That's enough!" King Julien stamped his foot, deciding against his better judgment to call for Clover. "Clover! CLOVER!"

The bark-made door flung open, and King Julien just barely ducked in time for the wooden thing to sail over his head and crown, and into the smoothed wall. The broken door crashed to the floor in a heap of splintered wood.

"What is it Your Majesty? Is it the foosa? And where have you been!?" She demanded pointing an accusatory finger at him. Her red fur was ruffled in irritation and anticipation.

King Julien tilted his head at her, somewhat out of annoyance, and somewhat out of impatience. "No! Nothing of that sort. I want to know what's makin' all that… growling noise, I want it to stop! It's ruining my party, man." He crossed his arms and lowered his ears.

"Oh. That noise. I was just investigating that, actually, Your Majesty so… I'll get back to that." She rolled her green eyes just as she turned around, causing the king to glare after her.

"Well, figure it out faster!" He sighed, looking back at the remaining lemurs that had stayed. "My groove is ruined." And with that he exited the premises. It was no fun anymore, Clover knew where he was and so Maurice soon would as well, and the repeating noise had scared the others too much to keep dancing, anyway.

It was dark out. He realized then just how long he had been out. If he was lucky, Maurice would be asleep, and he'd get to his bed without any aggravation. He decided to ignore the mild soreness building in his legs.

"Get down, Your Majesty!" Clover's voice came across strong, and suddenly his face was flat against the dirt as the loud, grating noise passed through his ears again. The ground quivered, and the vibrations only got stronger as the noise became louder. Looking to his side, he saw through a set of tilted trees what looked like extraordinarily tall, furless lemurs moving. Several were carrying large, growling sticks with boxy shapes at the end of them.

Clover finally got off his back and stood him up, shoving him. "C'mon, King Julien, I don't know what they're here for but they've been putting marks on the trees. We need to go."

He, for once, didn't question her and went running on all fours after her to a place underground. He didn't know where she'd found it, but he didn't question that either as the noises changed in intensity overhead until they eventually faded out of earshot. Once the grating, growling noises left, and the ground stopped its shaking, all that could be heard was Clover and King Julien's combined heavy breathing.

King Julien was stunned into silence for what was probably the first time in his life.

Clover dusted herself off and stood up, poking her head out the underground den. "It looks safe, Your Majesty, but stay here while I check for the other lemurs and the borders. We don't know what those things did."

"Clover! What do I do-"

"Stay here!" Clover spat back at him, and he cringed, putting his paws ahead of him in a show of defense.

"But it's boring in here! And I want to know what's going on in my kingdom!"

"It's too dangerous, King Julien! Stay here!" She snarled back at last, and then disappeared outside the den.

"It's dark too," King Julien added, childishly crossing his arms. While Clover was away, he played with his luxurious, ringed tail, admiring the softness of it. He became bored with even that fairly quickly, however and carefully poked his head out of the burrow. He immediately ducked back in, without really seeing anything outside, and cowered for a few seconds. Then, he slowly crept back to the mouth of the den, moving just enough of his head so his eyes could see the clearing where most of the townspeople usually stayed.

Nothing looked any different. Huts lined along the clearing looked fine and undamaged. The forestry looked undisturbed. His large tree with the kingly throne atop it in the fancy fallen metal bird looked fine. His hut looked fine. Everything looked… fine. So what had all the noise been for?

"King Julien!" Clover's voice hit him in a way that made him jump as if it had been a physical blow. He clenched his eyes shut and then yawned, the tension from his earlier fear lost.

"Clover, you really gotta stop that, man. You freak me out when you scream at me when I can't see you, okay?" He mused as he turned to face her.

"I don't… think those machines did anything, but there were deep cuts in almost every single tree here. We need to see Timo… I remember, when we talked to those 'aliens,' that the lemur we found there talked about how these furless apes made items but weren't very smart. Does that ring a bell?" Clover paused, flicking an ear in thought. She looked back up at him thoughtfully. "You think these are the same thing?"

King Julien didn't really know, he wasn't given much of a chance to look. He shrugged. "If they are, I don't think we have much to worry about then, do you?" He laughed. "But yes, go see Timo, fulfill your investigation or whatever… I'm going to bed." He yawned and started walking towards his hut.

"On it, Your Majesty!" Clover exclaimed, taking off in the opposite direction.


	2. The Communicator

King Julien woke the next morning feeling truly refreshed (it was borderlining the afternoon, but it wasn't like he kept time, or anything. That was Maurice's job). Thinking about Maurice, King Julien decided it would be best to finally grind through a bit of paperwork to get the aye-aye off his back. He went to open the door to his finely built hut when said aye-aye came rushing through the other side.

"Maurice," King Julien flicked his tail, "it's rude to bust into my room like that! We knock for a reason, you know."

"I'm sorry Your Majesty, but I can't let you leave right now. Clover's nowhere to be found and trees are falling because of these weird machines all along our southern border," Maurice panted, his chest heaving. "It's too dangerous, everyone's hiding in the huts alongside the northern borders."

King Julien processed the information for a second. But he had never had to deal with anything quite so serious and so, didn't take it as seriously. "Maurice, I'm sure they'll just… take a few trees and be gone, why should we care about a few trees?" He then crossed his arms, convincing himself Maurice was getting worked up over practically nothing. "And Clover disappears all the time whenever she's on her _investigations_. She's probably passed out somewhere from being tired." King Julien made an air quote motion when he said 'investigations.'

"King Julien, you don't understand! What if they cut down your tree with the throne on it? I can't let you go there." Maurice stood firmly in front of the door, waving his tail in annoyance.

King Julien easily sidestepped the lemur and was out the door before he could move. His constant dancing kept him in great shape, and he wasn't afraid to flaunt it, either. "See you at the bird, Mo-Mo!"

With that, he skidded easily down his hut's tree and to the jungle floor. He calmly began to walk to his plane when he heard a booming crash and the ground vibrated. He jumped and took cover, and heard a collective gasp and then screams as a small group of lemurs to his right took off running to a hut.

King Julien heard Maurice calling after him, but the ringtailed lemur paid him no heed. He bolted towards the great tree that held his throne and kingly items, dashing up the tree and straight into the huge, gray bird. He nestled into the throne and wrapped his soft, ringed tail around himself. The chair swiveled from the force of his jump into it.

As soon as Maurice entered the room, bent over and panting from effort, King Julien yelled, "Why didn't you warn me the ground was exploding, Maurice! And that it was unsafe to travel!"

"King Julien, that's exactly what I was saying."

The king ignored him, glowering at him as the chair came to a stop. "What do I do, Maurice? I can't be stuck in one room all day, what if I want to go party? I can't party in this office. It's too drab…"

"Your Majesty, we can't worry about partying with the furless on our tail," Maurice sighed. "Lemurs saw them. They say they went and the furless ones were using these small machines to make the trees fall."

King Julien really wished Clover was there. He flicked his tail and looked down in thought. "I'll… think about what to do, just have the villagers confront me with their problems as usual."

Maurice sighed but gave in, complying with his king. He took the megaphone from the side of the drab, red room and exited the metal bird, heading away to alert the townspeople they could go to the king for help.

While he did that, King Julien deliberated the events. Clover was missing, so there was his expert opinion on security out the door. Maurice was panicky, and didn't have any real advice to give him, it seemed. How did one stop big, furless apes from tearing down trees? King Julien then tilted his head, thoughtfully pondering, _well, if they're only taking a few trees… I don't see how that's so bad._

He decided then that they'd take the few trees they needed, then they'd be gone.

One by one, lemurs passed through King Julien's quarters. Almost every single lemur was questioning him about the felled trees and the invasive furless. They were scared, and to be honest, he had been before he decided they just wanted a few trees. Thinking that was all they wanted, he informed every single lemur that that was all the furless desired - a few trees. It calmed them greatly, and soon enough his queue of lemurs to advise was clear.

Maurice stepped in shortly after the line was gone, however, and brought up his fears again. "Your Majesty, I don't think they're here for just a few trees. Couldn't they do that anywhere else on the island?"

"I don't question the stupidity of the furless, Maurice, and you shouldn't either," King Julien shot back, crossing his arms and resting in his chair again. "I just hope Clover gets back. One of those lemurs could have tried to… I don't know, hurt my brainy bits or something." He pointed his face in the opposite direction of Maurice, giving a body language signal that told his caretaker he was done talking about the topic.

"Your Majesty."

Clover's voice caught him off-guard and he jumped. He caught a gasp from Maurice's end, too. "Clover! What have I told you about sneaking up on the king? You're going to give me a heart attack." King Julien snapped as he stopped the chair from performing another set of spinning, and faced her. He shook his head in confusion when he saw her though.

The crowned lemur was sitting in the broken window of the metal bird, leaning down slightly due to the added weight of an accessory around her neck. It was a dark gray, slick band that surrounded her throat. A heavy, square, rock-like piece was on the front of the accessory, looking like it brushed against her chin uncomfortably and weighed her down greatly.

"Clover… what is that? And where do I get one?" King Julien lost his stupid expression and smiled at her instead, reaching out as if attempting to touch it.

Maurice shook his head. "King Julien, I don't think you want one of those."

Clover fell through the window, wrestling with the device. "The furless gave it to me! They… took me, and I woke up somewhere silver and shiny, cold, too. They put their filthy paws all over me and then… this, they put this on me!" She gestured angrily to the heavy device around her neck. "You definitely don't want one, King Julien, and I forbid you to go anywhere near those furless."

"I can do whatever I want! I am the king, you know," he protested her forbiddance and then looked closer at her neck. "That does look pretty uncomfortable though…"

Clover struggled to shove the device over her head and, hunched over and panting, cut her eyes at the king. "You think?"

"Still, I want furless bling too!" King Julien demanded.

"Your Majesty, let me put this into perspective. Lemurs are getting captured by the furless and having for all we know, explosives strapped to them!" Clover shouted firmly. Her green eyes suddenly widened and she flicked her tail. "Oh, no! It could be an explosive couldn't it! Stand back King Julien, I need to go see Timo! Until then I refuse to be around you, for your own safety!" Clover ducked to all fours and leapt out the metal bird's window. However, her balance was thrown off by the heavy neck gadget and she plummeted instead of smoothly landing into the tree just by the window.

Maurice flinched. "That had to hurt."


	3. It's a Trap

"Your Majesty, we can't just ignore this. I saw Ted return today with a collar as well. We need to hunker down for a while, get a plan together… and King Julien, we may need to leave."

This was the fourth time today Clover had come to his hut to bug him about the prospect of moving the kingdom. She had forbade him from leaving his royal hut, providing him with meals and water, but it was still annoying. He was an energetic, active lemur, and a small hut did not serve well for him. He glared at her when she repeated herself.

"I heard you the first three times Clover, okay?" He flicked his tail at her, just annoyed at this point. "The lemur kingdom has always existed here. Always! Those huts didn't get built overnight, you know. And what about the beach? If we move we'll be too far from the beach."

"We could move closer to the beach," Clover mused hopefully. She then blinked in a confused expression. "Wait, no, scrap that. Way too few fruits down over there. Really bad idea. Don't listen to that, Your Majesty, please."

She scratched at the underside of her collar. Where she raised it just barely, he could see it chafing her skin, and her scratching was digging her own fur out. He winced. He had decided since she first showed up with the thing that he definitely didn't want any part of that.

"Just think about it Your Majesty. What's more important? Your kingdom's safety or a beach?"

A pang of guilt hit him, and King Julien's tail straightened in hostility. "I've heard enough! Out, Clover," he shot at her. She looked at him in surprise, her green eyes round. He had never felt such an unexplainable amount of anger at a person in his life. But he was finished, he wanted her to go away, and he wanted her to go away _now._

"Yes, Your Majesty." Clover finally said, turning and walking out the room. He knew she'd sit by the door and still listen for him if he attempted to escape, but it was better than having her in the same room, whining at him about leaving the kingdom behind. It hadn't been built in a week, it had been built over the culminated effort of months and months to maybe a whole year or two of work. He wasn't going to trash that simply because some furless wanted trees!

With that, he crawled back into his bed and lay there, listening closely, hoping Clover would go to sleep or potentially leave out of boredom. Maybe she'd think he was asleep, even.

Finally, he heard light snoring. It was dark at that point, and he was beginning to doze off. But the darkness meant he could leave! He'd show them. He'd show them that the furless only wanted a few of their trees and then they'd be out of their fur.

He stood and stretched, carefully jumping through a window in his royal hut to escape. He landed on the smooth branch of a nearby tree, wrapping his fingers around it lightly, and then proceeded to hop from branch to branch down the smooth bark.

The cool night was comfortable against his skin and while the quietness of the area was eerie, and definitely out of his area of expertise, it was a relief for one reason. He could go visit the furless without any trouble and then explain how well the trip went in the morning.

While it took him ages to figure out what direction was south, King Julien finally found the southern borders, and the felled trees that dappled it. He also located the huge machines the furless were using on the trees as well. Two enormous, boxy shapes loomed in the night, shaded jet black in the darkness of night. A lot of the fallen trees were piled onto a flat deck behind one of the boxy things, the logs strangely smooth at the bottoms, and their tops had no leaves.

He paused at the edge of the forestry, looking at the many stumps and the multiple large piles of leaves in confusion. Some of the leaves contained fruit in it. They were chopping fruit trees and wasting the fruit? That didn't make any sense…

He dared to creep out from the shade and into the open area. When he heard a clanging noise, he ducked to all fours, looking around at the machinery with wide, round eyes. Still, he saw nothing move, and he heard nothing else. He could clearly see what one of the huge machines was here for - trees - but what about the other?

King Julien stealthily moved to the other machine, climbing over the broken and splintered stumps, and masses of sticks and leaves that covered the floor here. There were so many sticks it hurt his pads to walk over them.

He finally reached the other boxy shape. He wondered how it was supported by six or so round, black things; didn't round things roll? Ignoring that, he continued to investigate. It was about as big as the other machine, except instead of a flat deck behind the front of it, it sported a large, mesh box with more mesh boxes inside of it. He couldn't make out what was inside of the mesh in the darkness (curse the half-moon, he thought). So, he made an even bigger dare, crawling onto the mesh by climbing it like a tree. The open holes in the mesh made it easy to climb.

His heart pounded when suddenly he saw ten or twelve sets of eyes open and lock onto him. He gave a squeal of surprise and jumped, launching himself off the mesh. The smaller mesh boxes contained lemurs!

He heard more clanging, and watched from behind a pile of dying leaves in dismay as a furless stepped from the vehicle with all the mesh. It was so tall, and so hard to make out in the darkness. King Julien's heart pounded and he fought his own heaving breath, frozen in spot when he should have been making the maddest dash home he could possibly imagine.

It was only then that he realized his regal, fluffy tail was sticking out over the leaf pile and easy to see, even in the cover of darkness. The white rings stood out as if they glowed. He squeaked when he realized that and quickly grabbed his tail, wrapping it firmly around his legs. His frozen state was broken, and he turned to run, only to feel a piercing sensation in his thigh.

It shoved him forward a few centimeters, and he attempted to get up and run after that, but didn't make it very far. He tripped over a few sticks and landed face-down against the debris. His crown toppled off his head and into the mass of sticks.

He managed to get up just enough to look back and watch as the furless got closer, eventually getting close enough to pick him up. King Julien went to struggle, to fight to get out the creature's grip, only to find he had been sapped of all his energy. It alarmed him, he had felt cool and energetic when he arrived!

The world swirled and faded in his vision, and disappeared when his eyelids gave up and shut on him.


	4. Radio Signal

It was cold; that was the first thing he noticed as he came to. It was cold and wiry, and uncomfortable against his side. He yawned and sleepily rose to his feet before his eyes fully opened. His attempt to stand on two legs failed however, as his head hit a similar mesh above him. He blinked open his eyes, and jumped, hitting his head yet again.

He was in a black, mesh box like he'd seen last night, except he wasn't surrounded by other mesh boxes, nor was he outside at all. He was in a picture perfect white room, with harsh, unforgivingly bright lights that were definitely not natural.

The walls had protruding boxes on them that were just as white as the walls were. Looping, smaller protrusions existed on them. He supposed those were handles and the boxes were to store items. Below those were undefined surfaces, like tables that pushed out of the walls. Basins the same silver color of the table his mesh box was on were in the tables that were connected to the walls.

Pulling his tail around him, he sat in the box, feeling undermined with how it was too short to stand in and annoyed. Annoyed because he knew when he got back, he'd have to tell Maurice and Clover the truth, and they'd be so convinced they needed to leave that they just may attempt to find some rule to override his decision to stay. His tail gave an irritated twitch.

He watched, unflinching, as the white door to the overly pure room opened and a furless stepped in. King Julien tilted his head, and then looked back up at the supposed protruding boxes. The loops were handles, and they were doors. He received a low amount of comfort from recognizing the strange, alien equipment, but it was better than nothing.

The furless held a collar exactly like the one Clover wore, except it was black instead of gray. The furless was wearing something blue and tight over its paws… or perhaps this one's paws were blue? He didn't know furless could have different colored paws. It also had a simple, white coat on; one almost as spotless and clean as the room.

The furless approached the table King Julien was on and used its oversized, blue paws to open the mesh box. It had some kind of clip on the front… Before King Julien could react, the furless grabbed him by his neck-scruff, and carefully pulled him out and onto the table. At first, he didn't quite understand - that action was usually reserved for parent lemurs trying to regain control of their (very) young children. Fluffing his tail in disbelief at how he was being handled, he grabbed onto the bottom of the mesh cage.

"Hey! Watch the hair, man," King Julien complained, brushing his chest fur down again. But the furless took no heed of him, using its other paw to take the prior's place at his neck. The now free paw picked up the collar off the gleaming table and unfastened it using buttons on the back of the boxy piece. It then put the collar on King Julien's neck in a quick motion, using both hands to both hold him down and fasten the collar.

Before the violated king knew it, there was a heavy, unattractive collar around his neck as well. But the furless wasn't finished. It then pulled a sharp, pointed object from its white coat that the king definitely recognized as a needle. He struggled a lot harder, but the paw on his neck only squeezed tighter.

"I order you to stop!" King Julien yelled, wrestling one of the furless's paws. Its strength was no match for his, however, and his actions did nothing but increase the pressure on his neck-scruff.

The needle was injected into his upper arm, near where the other paw had him immobilized. Julien had no idea what to do. Nothing he was saying was deterring the creature. So, he gave a deep, throaty growl - something he had never done before. Aside from surprise himself, that did nothing as well.

"I'm royalty… and this is humiliating, man!" King Julien shouted. After that he felt the familiar whoozy sensation. The furless loosened its grip on his neck-scruff and opened the mesh box again, carefully guiding King Julien back inside by loosely holding his sides and ushering him in the mesh box's direction.

He went back in without a fight. It was a lot nicer than being manhandled by the furless, and he knew where his situation was going anyway. He was being forced asleep again like they had done when they caught him at the clearing with all the chopped trees, he just knew it… he just wasn't quite so sure where he'd be taken after.

He growled once more as he fell asleep, the mesh box's door closing finally.

* * *

"King Julien? Is that you?"

King Julien groggily shook his head, his eyes too blurry to take in the figures in front of him. The sounds of the voices told him Mort was talking to him, and soon after, Clover's voice chimed in.

"King Julien, you've been given a collar like mine… I think it's time we consult Timo about having these removed. He proved mine wasn't a bomb, but he had no idea what it was or how to remove it. Let's get going, if it's on you he has to figure out how to get rid of it."

"Whoa… Slow down, Clover," King Julien yawned, rubbing his eyes as he sat up and blinked the blurriness away. "Do what now?" He was dully aware of sharp, pointed sticks beneath his rump and that they were just at the edge of where he had originally been captured. He gave the stump-littered area a quick glance before looking back at Clover and Mort. He thought he caught a glimpse of Maurice with them, too.

Clover's tail lashed in a sudden burst of excitement. "Of course! They hit you with the sedative too, Your Majesty. You'll be tired a while. Here, Mort and I can carry you at least closer to the camp so you can rest."

King Julien waved her off. "No, Clover…" He yawned again, finally able to clearly see them both. Mort was looking up at him with his large, round eyes. They looked wet, as if he had been crying. He looked incredibly worried. "Why is Mort all… not being annoying?" King Julien wrinkled his nose and stood up. He made an effort to brush off his neck and chest, where the furless had held him down to install the collar.

"Oh, King Julien, you're alive!" The smaller lemur immediately leapt at the king's feet, latching onto King Julien's left leg.

"I tried to tell him you were just sleeping. He was intent on being upset for you though," Clover rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips as she watched Mort lovingly rub King Julien's calf.

"Get - Get off, Mort!" King Julien shook his leg excessively. "Get off!" Finally, the lemur was kicked off his foot. "I'm fine! I was always fine!" King Julien raised his leg, balancing awkwardly as he brushed off Mort's germs (even if there weren't literal Mort germs, King Julien considered being touched by the mouse lemur enough to count as a germ).

"Save for that pretty penny around your neck," Maurice muttered. King Julien turned around and saw the aye-aye standing there, his arms crossed.

"What?" King Julien indignantly demanded, also crossing his arms. His advisor looked more than aggravated, and the way Maurice was avoiding meeting the king's eyes said he had been upset by it.

"Nothing, except you intentionally _ran off and put your life in danger!_ " Maurice shouted, frowning at King Julien. "We warned you, King Julien!"

"Do you want me to admit I was wrong?" King Julien asked, kinking his tail over his back in a further display of indignance. "Well, it's not going to happen! Except… maybeCloverwasrightaboutthefurlesstearingintoourlandandstealinglemurs." King Julien spat the last part out really fast, still holding his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He then opened one, and started feeling about on his head. "My crown!" He expressively used both hands to feel about the top of his head, as if his crown may have shrank and was hard to find.

"Got it," Clover brandished the gem from behind her back (where had she been storing that? King Julien didn't care to ask) and set it on his head for him. He quickly adjusted it so that it was perfectly straight on his head. One of the leaves looked damaged.

"Anyway…" Clover started, gesturing back towards the kingdom, "as I was saying, we need to see Timo. He can afford to not be able to get it off me but he needs to get it off you. We don't know what these things do."

King Julien pawed at the device around his neck, noting its smooth, soft texture. Aside from that though, it was heavy, and there was something behind the thick part of the collar that made his neck itch.

"Yes, let's go see Timo." He agreed, beginning to walk after Clover, and ignoring Mort as he clung to King Julien's ringed tail. Months of Mort's annoying torment had taught him sometimes it was simply better to ignore him (though he couldn't always do that when Mort attached himself to his legs - after all, how does one dance with a lemur connected to its foot?).

* * *

 **Hoping everyone's enjoying the story so far! I always did love the Madagascar series, but I wasn't a huge fan of the Penguins of Madagascar's animation quality or how it fit with the main Madagascar timeline (and I came to realize that that series is considered to be in a different universe from the main one...). However, All Hail King Julien is canon to the main storyline, and is of beautiful quality - both animation-wise, dialogue-wise, and everything else one can think of! It's a great show, but I just couldn't help myself from playing with such a dynamic character as King Julien. The deforestation and expansion threat is one that's consistent everywhere, especially in countries with lower HDI, so I thought this was a perfect setting to exercise this idea in. I also have been writing this story for a while before posting any of it, so I have the next few chapters already written - I just am combing them over before posting. ;)**


	5. Elbow Grease

Timo blinked as Clover, King Julien, Maurice, and Mort all showed up at his doorstep at a junkyard. Clover and King Julien both sported almost matching collars. He tilted his head as they got closer, and sat on his haunches. This explanation was going to be good, he supposed. His slender, pink nose twitched in cautious anticipation.

King Julien donned a black, sleek, rubber band around his neck with a thick pendant at its front. The king appeared to be struggling just slightly to keep a straight posture. He wasn't quite as surprised to see Clover, as she had approached him before about the similar gray band around her throat.

"Timo," King Julien started, his hand raised in an attempt at regal expression. "I need this… space collar off me." King Julien gestured to the black device around his neck, and then crossed his arms. His eyes were still trained on the odd collar.

Clover shook her head. "Timo, the furless that are coming up in the south are capturing lemurs, and some of those lemurs are returning with these things on their necks. I don't know what it does, and you can afford to leave it on me, but I refuse to let it stay on the king's neck. If we don't know what it does, it must go. For all we know this is another charade from someone who wants the king dead."

"That's right," Julien grinned, "the royal neck cannot be contained!" He then paused when he finished processing what Clover had said. "S-say what now?" While they continued speaking, he looked down at his collar, gingerly touching the thicker piece.

"Well… Clover, yours nearly broke my cutters but… I can try to find a set of stronger wire cutters in the junkyard. I still haven't sifted through half of this place, heh," the mole-like tenrec replied nervously. He swallowed before either one could speak again and disappeared into the metallic trash heap, practically swimming in it.

This part of the beach was considered a sacred cove of sorts. It was where King Julien had found Boombox, and it was where a lot of the old kings' gadgets and special devices had come from. Maurice had referred to it as a 'buttload of garbage that washed up on the beach,' but King Julien knew they had come here more than once for help. With Timo around, it was just that much more useful. The beach was covered in scraps of metal, old gadgets, and rusted components that may have very well originally come from the furless. Surely Timo could find something to get this unattractive gizmo off his neck.

The tenrec quickly returned, holding a set of thick, and sharp, rusted cutters. King Julien winced at the sight of it, tucking his tail between his legs. "Is that… necessary?" He pointed at the cutters cautiously, flattening his ears.

"If yours is anything like Clover's, this probably isn't even enough," Timo shrugged. He began to waddle towards King Julien.

"It better be! Or you'll be digging through your metal garden a lot more," Clover snapped. The tenrec flinched, nodding his head out of reflex.

"O-of course, Clover! Of course." He waddled closer to King Julien in a much slower fashion, and once he reached him, he gently pulling the king down to his level. King Julien swallowed, looking at the cutters apprehensively.

Timo used one hand to pull the collar away from King Julien's neck as far as it would go (which wasn't very far at all, maybe enough for Timo to get three fingers beneath it), and used his other hand to nestle the cutters underneath the collar. The cold metal glided over King Julien's skin, parting his soft fur, and King Julien pulled back out of fear. "King Julien," Timo breathed a deep, fast breath, his heart beating just that much faster. "Please don't do that. I don't want to cut-"

"You cut him and I'll do much worse to you," Clover threatened quietly. "I can kill someone in thirty-six different ways with just my tail."

"Yes ma'am," Timo corrected himself quickly, holding King Julien's collar much tighter and using his other hand to press the cutters. The blades paused, refusing to cut into the thick band. King Julien felt a slight pinching on his neck, and raised his hands to shove Timo when the tenrec gave a loud shout. "King Julien, please be careful! Don't move too much, or you'll push the blades on yourself!" He pressed tighter on the handles of the cutters, clenching his eyes shut with the force of the effort.

He heard a metallic snap, and opened his eyes to find the cutters broken in his left hand. King Julien jumped back as the blades fell away from him, crossing his arms and straightening his crown again. "You could have cut me!"

"If you didn't wiggle so much…" Timo mumbled under his breath. "Okay. So, those collars are really tough… Have you tried just, you know, pushing it over your head?" Timo raised his shoulders curiously, and then demonstrated by pretending to push on his neck in the direction of his face.

King Julien blinked blankly back at him. "Just shoving it over my head? Like this?" He proceeded to push on the backside of the collar, flattening his ears in an attempt to make the slope of his head smaller. The collar caught on the back of his jawline, however, and wouldn't go any further. In a harder, more desperate effort, he cocked his head and pressed on the box shape of the collar, ignoring his crown as it toppled from his head and to the ground (which Mort, having been strangely silent the whole time, was more than happy to collect).

He felt ridges and bumps beneath the box shape on the collar, but otherwise managed to do nothing more than make his jaw sore and irritate his skin. He stopped pushing, and the collar sank like a rock back onto his neck. "That was a stupid idea, Timo. And where's my crown?"

Mort giggled childishly behind him. King Julien turned to find the mouse lemur sitting with his bushy tail curled around him, and his, King Julien's, majestic crown on top of… _its_ head. King Julien grunted in annoyance and swiped the crown off Mort's head, placing it back where it belonged - on his royal head.

He looked back to Timo, raising a paw, and gesturing to the boxy shape on the collar. "I do feel… bumpy parts behind this on the collar. Maybe that can get it off?"

Timo's expression brightened, a grin spreading across his face. He darted over to King Julien, pulling on the collar and once again forcing the king to stumble and bend over to his height. "Timo, you're a great friend man, but this is a bit humiliating, dude."

"No, King Julien, I'm looking for buttons. If there are buttons on the back of this thing I think I can get it off!" Timo reached a paw behind the collar and slowly stroked it. King Julien sighed, giving up on how silly the whole situation made him look.

He was bent over, held at the collar by Timo. His back was hunched awkwardly, and his tail was swirling here and there to keep him balanced. He had otherwise relaxed (now that there weren't sharp, rusted blades involved, he wasn't quite as on edge as he had been before). When Timo's ministrations failed to stop and the collar didn't loosen, he shoved the tenrec off him. He dusted himself off and stood back to full height.

"Clover! I'm done with this. I guess I can get used to the… furless bling. Maybe it isn't so bad. Ohh, I wonder if it gets reception? Maybe it makes music!" King Julien danced a little, bouncing from one foot to the other while his tail swirled in a circle behind him.

"King Julien, I really don't think furless would capture us to put… music-makers on our necks," Maurice said, rolling his eyes a bit. "And if they were, why would they be knocking over trees?"

"Maybe it makes the reception better. You're such a party pooper Maurice. I'll go mess with Boombox and see if it _is_ a music-maker!" The king ended their visit with Timo abruptly, rushing towards the kingdom again and leaving Clover, Maurice, and Mort in the dust.

* * *

"If I may make a suggestion," Timo raised a paw tentatively after King Julien disappeared. "I think those things are trackers. If the furless are taking lemurs and putting those on, they may just be marking you to take later…"

"If that's what they're doing," Clover started, "then… you really need to find a way to get them off! They're going to take King Julien if that's true. Timo, you're tasked with making cutters that are strong enough to break through these collars. Understand me?" Clover stepped down to Timo's height, touching his shoulder with her tail to remind him of her earlier statement. "Thirty-six ways, Timo." She whispered.

"Of course!" Timo nodded, his nose bouncing from the strength of it. "Of course!"


	6. Seeing Red

King Julien sighed, leaning back in his spinning throne. His collar was chafing his neck, and he had begun to scratch at his much like Clover had done. He had resorted to kicking at his neck with his back leg like a mangy foosa, because his kick and claws were stronger there. "Maurice! I need help."

The portly advisor winced. He was mere feet away from King Julien, it wasn't as if his shout was needed. He flicked his right ear, wondering if he'd be able to hear from it properly still. "What is it, Your Majesty?" He responded finally.

"This collar! It's totally not cool, man, it makes it hard to dance, it doesn't play music, it's rubbing my neck all sore, and it itches." With that, he sat up and crossed his arms, a new round of itching eating at his neck. He resisted it for a few seconds before digging into his neck, scratching beneath the collar's box shape especially. It was good only Maurice was in the room; he looked like he was infested with parasites, the way he was digging into his skin.

"King Julien, you have to stop scratching, at least," Maurice practically yawned the words out, rubbing his eyes. He sat down the stack of papers and the feather-tipped pen he was writing on them with. King Julien usually had stacks of paperwork to finish as part of his job, but rarely did the ring-tailed lemur actually do them - it usually fell to Maurice to do so. "If you start to look unhappy the kingdom will get freaked out… And we don't want that, not with trees falling all over the place." He hopped down from his seat and hobbled across the room to where a dusty, ragged suitcase sat against the wall. Maurice opened it and began to dig through it, hoping there was something in the 'first aid kit' that could ease King Julien's scratching.

"Your Majesty! I found her trespassing," came Clover's strong voice, cutting their discussion short. The entrance to the king's quarters, a set of red, tattered curtains, were flung open dramatically by Clover to announce her presence. She was dragging a familiar (and similar) crowned lemur behind her.

Crimson, looking worn and quite angry, stood up and shoved Clover off herself. She, too, sported a collar. It was just as dull gray as her sister's. "I come only because I need help… and if you help me, then I guess I owe you. We can argue barter terms later. But I need - wait, you and my sister both have one of these?" She snorted, crossing her arms. "I suppose I can give up asking for help on that now then. But that doesn't change that lemurs are disappearing. Your uncle, Julie, is gone."

"Am I supposed to feel bad about that? He was always trying to… you know… kill me, and so were you, now that I think about it!" King Julien stood up and lashed his tail. "Why are you here?" He pointed at her and pursed his lips angrily.

"Look, the past sucks between us, but can we move on, Schmoopy-Bear? I really am in need of a little help…" Crimson pushed out her hips and blinked fervently at him. He stared at her when she did that. Her blue eyes entranced him, her soft, perfect curves adding to the bliss. He heard Maurice whisper his name, snapping him out of it. King Julien shook his head quickly, ripping himself out of the silly trance.

"Where's your… muscular, big, boyfriend? Sage?" King Julien huffed. "Can't he help you? Without the threat of me dying?"

"He was captured," Crimson muttered. "I just need a place to stay until this blows over, Schmoopy-Bear." She flitted her eyelids at him and tilted her head cutely.

"And why should we trust you?" Clover shoved her sister to the floor suddenly, holding her down by stepping on her chest. "You've tried to poison, maim, destroy, and otherwise kill King Julien!"

"Calls into question why you even brought her to my office, Clover…" King Julien raised his hands and made a questioning gesture, a confused look on his face. "Kind of a bad move when you think about it, really…" He paused and put a hand on his lower jaw in a show of thinking.

"Because ultimately it isn't Clover's decision," Crimson stated in her sultry, sweet voice. She brushed herself off as she stood again, throwing her sister off balance and causing her to topple over. While Clover shook off the force of the fall, Crimson pranced over to King Julien. She wasn't afraid to flaunt her curves and it more than distracted the king.

Clover looked purely livid, her tail lashing and ears twitching. She hadn't even bothered to get back up. "He wouldn't have much of a choice if I just took you out…" She growled.

"Your own sister?" Crimson laughed. "That'd be low, even for you, Clo-Clo." Crimson shot her an innocent smile.

"Don't call me 'Clo-Clo.' It's Clover."

"Whichever you prefer, Clo-Clo. Now, Julie, you wouldn't let me be helpless and alone out there would you?" The crowned lemur purred and wrapped her tail softly around his neck, pulling him to her height and locking her blue eyes with his intense, amber ones. "Why live in the past, anyway, Julie, when we can make the present so much better? You're the here and now type, aren't you, dear?"

"Um…" King Julien was rendered speechless, his tail swishing back and forth in confused excitement. His ears had fallen flat against his head, a stupid expression engulfing his face.

"It's King Julien," Clover corrected her sister again. She was met with silence.

King Julien swallowed and carefully plucked Crimson's tail from around his neck as he finally came back to his senses. "Well… I guess trying to forget the past is a good idea…" He grinned nervously up at Crimson. "But you better not try to… kill me, or something! Clover, go make sure Uncle is actually captured and Sage is too… If they're not, I want Crimson out of here the second you know."

"Of course, Your Majesty!" Clover saluted him and then dove out the window of the metal bird.

Maurice was looking at the situation with a tired expression. "I'm going to go on a calm, peaceful walk, away from all of this."

"And leave me alone with the, well, hot, but still a psycho pyscho!? Hello, Maurice!" King Julien waved at his advisor. "You can't go!"

"I'll yell at Mort to get up here or… something." Maurice yawned and scratched his back, wandering out of the room. True to his word, Mort then came dashing in a few seconds later. He stared precisely at Crimson and didn't stop. King Julien swore he didn't even pause to blink.

"So… Crimson… How'd you get your pretty necklace, haha..?" King Julien laughed nervously and batted at the collar that was so similar to his around her neck. He turned his back to her and, after throwing a glance over his shoulder to ensure she didn't attempt to attack him, he went back to sitting in his swivel seat of a throne. He retrieved the bony arm of a long-dead furless from beside his chair and held it close. Despite Mort watching over him, he didn't feel quite safe. The bone arm helped him feel more in charge, as well.

"Trying to save your uncle. Then I realized the old rat wasn't worth it, but only too late," she sighed. "How about you?" She pushed her hips to the side again and swayed her lengthy tail.

"Well, you see… The peoples were all upset and afraid of the big noisy things, so I went to see them and tell them, you know, you got to go! This is my kingdom! And I fought them with my awesome… kingly… powers, and they ran away screaming. But one dropped this thing on me and I can't get it off." King Julien raised his chin triumphantly, pointing at the collar as if it were a trophy.

"He ran off in the middle of the night and was knocked out by the furless, and came back with it on," Mort giggled a few seconds after King Julien's explanation. "The furless are still here. Clover, Maurice, and I found him past the south side."

"I think I believe Mort more than you, Julie." Crimson rolled her blue eyes and brushed her tail against his nose. "As… totally realistic as yours was." She blew a kiss in his direction and then sauntered over to the seat Maurice had been sitting on prior to her arrival. She curled up in the smaller chair, tucking herself in an almost perfect ball. She flicked her tail, sending the stack of papers Maurice had finished dealing with into the floor. She gave a small, mischievous giggle as she closed her eyes to rest.

"Mort, is this what sleeping with the enemy means?" King Julien asked in a raspy whisper. The mouse lemur shrugged without looking back at him, his eyes still trained solely on Crimson.


	7. Timber

"King Julien!"

The lemur bounced, hitting his head against the canopy of his regal bed. The broad leaves gave in, breaking and leaving a hole almost the exact shape of his head. When he landed again, he huffed. A millisecond later, his crown plopped back down on his head. "Somebody's going to need to fix that, and it's not going to be me." With that, he turned around to see Crimson standing in his doorway, panting and looking urgent. Her fur was fluffed, and her ears were twitching.

"We need you, and quickly! Maurice is hurt," she puffed. Her expression was one of shock. Her blue eyes were wide and her pupils were but small pinpricks in them. Once she was sure she had gotten his attention, she turned and ran back down the tree on all fours. King Julien had just barely processed the words when he began to follow her. He followed also on all fours, his paws skidding harshly against the bark. He caught up to Crimson on the ground, him being the one out of breath now.

"What do you mean 'hurt?'" King Julien asked finally, seeming to not understand the concept of the word with the awkward way it rolled off his tongue.

"Clover found him under a stray limb from a fallen tree, and he was unconscious. She told me to come get you to calm him down so we could take him to the hospital," Crimson explained fully, standing up and off her front legs. "He's babbling nonsense at Clover and won't let her touch him."

King Julien paused their hurried pace by coming to a near complete stop. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden? And not so… stabby?" He was standing now, and tilting his head at her. Something about the situation was strange. Too strange.

"This isn't the time!" Crimson snapped, pausing as well. She lashed her tail at him. "If you really must know, I'm a little _more_ _concerned_ with the _falling trees and approaching furless and the weird necklaces they're giving to everyone_ to _care_ about _you_ right now! Besides… if it becomes truly deadly I'm sure it'll somehow end up taking you down." Crimson shrugged, and then broke back into a run, leaving him.

King Julien raced after her. "Wait, so you don't want to actually start over?" He questioned, thinking back on the plea she'd used to get them to trust her.

"Of course not, Julie, now. Do you want to argue or save your friend? I don't particularly care either way. Just wondering. I'm only acting so urgent to keep Clover off my tail."

"Save Maurice, we can argue while we carry him or something," King Julien waved her off with his tail as they ran. He supposed he didn't blame her for lying in front of Clover. His head of security could be a little… insane.

Upon reaching the site, he found that Clover had managed to at least pull Maurice out from beneath the large tree limb. He was face-down in the dust, and Clover was standing over him. The tree the branches had come from was nowhere to be seen. Tree stumps littered this part of the forestry, as well as clumps of leaves and sticks. In the distance, one could hear the malevolent snarling of the furless machines.

When Clover spotted Crimson and King Julien, she pointed to the fallen lemur. "Help me carry him, Crimson. Your Majesty, you should speak to him, to keep him calm."

The ring-tailed lemur awkwardly made his way to Maurice, who looked outwardly fine, but perhaps he only appeared that way to the king because he _wanted_ him to be fine. "Um… Maurice? You're going to be fine, ah… Clover and the rest of us are going to take you to see Dr. Snake, and you'll be all better soon…" He received a pitiful grunt for his efforts. Then he realized that Clover and Crimson working to pick the aye-aye up had probably brought that about, not him. King Julien struggled to help carry his friend's weight from the front.

"Ah, Maurice, not to be mean what with what just happened but… you should really lose a few pounds, dude," King Julien grunted between straining his arms to carry his friend.

Luckily for them, Maurice had fallen closer to the western edges of the forest. He wasn't far from the rocky beach, where their hospital was set up. King Julien grimly recalled how Maurice had pressed for a hospital for weeks and it had taken a run-in with an insane witch doctor of a snake and a vengeful old friend for him to listen to his advisor.

Perhaps he really was a terrible friend.

Finally, they reached the rockier parts of the island, where Dr. Snake and Rob McTod stayed. The hospital was where everyone went when they were sick or injured, and more often than not Dr. Snake and his partner did well to fix the lemurs up and send them on their way. After climbing precariously through the rocky slopes and into an eerily skull-shaped cave, Dr. Snake relieved them of their charge. The large, monocle cobra murmured to himself as he overlooked Maurice, checking the aye-aye's physical condition. He then asked King Julien, Crimson, Clover, and the few other lemurs that had tailed them following the incident to leave.

King Julien stood just outside the room Maurice was in, pacing, his muzzle pointed down in thought. "I have an idea brewing in my brainy… parts.."

"King Julien, we must evacuate. They're simply getting too close," Clover insisted from the side, cutting him short.

"For once," Crimson added, ensuring to give her sister a dark stare as she said so, "I agree with Clo-Clo. Those furless are just going to keep getting closer, Julie."

King Julien stamped his foot. "We are not leaving!" The strange surge of anger overtook him again. "I will set a new thing of… rules that the peoples will follow. It will keep them safer from the furless! But we aren't leaving. This is our home, we don't know of anywhere else that's as safe or good as this." He put his hands on his hips and raised a brow at Clover. "And you tell me where I can find another huge tree with a metal bird in it."

Crimson and Clover didn't want to admit it, but they really didn't know. They had no idea if beyond where the furless were if there were more or less furless, and if there were any fruit trees, or even any hospitable conditions. The king was eying them with an imposing stare as they digested what he'd said. It was clear he had made his decision and wasn't wavering.

"That's actually a really good idea, Your Majesty," Clover nodded slowly, her voice slowly rising in excitement for the idea, "adding rules to protect the kingdom. We should get on that right away… Let's get to the bird."

* * *

King Julien stepped into the sunlight of the clearing, held by a platform two brown lemurs were carrying. His regal appearance was on purpose. Clover had said it would give him a sense of increased authority in a time where lemurs were scared. He waved and smiled to lemurs that poked their heads out of their homes to see him. Clover was walking alongside the platform, and since Maurice was out of order, she was carrying the megaphone.

"Alright, everyone! Out, to the clearing! King Julien has some very important information to relay!" Clover shouted, her voice much larger and more intimidating in the megaphone than Maurice's ever was.

Lemurs stepped out and, after nervously looking back and forth, they looked up at their king. King Julien looked around as they gathered, noting how fidgety and nervous they were. It was making even him feel uneasy, all the tucked tails and twitching noses. "Okay, peoples, I have an important announcement to make! As we know… the furless are doing some pretty messed up things. So, I'm going to tell you some…" He trailed off and then looked down at Clover, spitting a rather loud whisper at her, "what's that word again, Clover?"

"Temporary, Your Majesty," she muttered back, crossing her arms.

"Some _temp-or-ary_ rules! When the furless decide they've had enough lemurs and trees they'll leave and these rules will leave also! But until then… ah… where's my cheat sheet…" The king looked around the platform he was standing on, feeling the two lemurs below him strain to keep him upright. "You can put me down you know," he said as he got on all fours and poked his head over the side, looking at them upside down.

The lemurs gladly did so, tipping the float and throwing the king off in an ungracious manner. King Julien's mouth had been open, so when he stood up, he spat grit out of his mouth. After he dusted himself off and finished spitting, he glared after the two lemurs that had dropped him. "I didn't mean like that!"

"Here, Your Majesty," Clover flicked an ear and handed him a piece of paper. He swore he saw a smirk on her face.

"A-ha! Here, all of the peoples must… Okay. Nobody is allowed to go past the south side of the clearing. It's too dangerous…" The king raised a hand and pointed south. Everyone turned their faces to look in said direction. It was clear to see the forestry was thinner, and the hum of furless equipment was still very audible. King Julien continued.

"Nobody can travel alone, always have three or more lemurs in your group… If you see a furless or any of their weird machines, do not climb a tree, run back to the clearing and report it to me or Clover… and children shouldn't leave the home unless absolutely necessary," King Julien finished, and handed the paper back to Clover. He put his hands on his hips and looked down at her. "Is all that really needed?" He hissed. "It sounds a bit harsh… y'know?"

"We're trying to keep people safe, Your Majesty," she reminded him in a firm tone.

"Those sound kind of… tough, don't you think?" A lemur from the side voiced the king's quiet fears. "You're not going to start making us stay quiet all the time and stuff like your uncle did, are you?" The red-ruffed lemur's eyes widened slightly, and he swept his tail across the ground in anticipation of King Julien's response. "King Julien the Eleventh was really tough…"

"What? I'm nothing like Uncle! No, these are only… what's that word again… temporary," King Julien reminded them, his voice starting to shake. "Temporary… When the furless leave, the rules leave too." He repeated himself firmly.

"And what if the furless don't leave?" A squat, but rather large creamy, female lemur asked. "What if they never leave?" She had her paws on her hips, and her red-eyed glare was challenging. She wore a decorative collar as well, though hers was darker than Clover or Crimson's. Her tail lashed as she spoke.

King Julien began chewing his left hand's nails a bit. Clover stepped in front of him and held up the megaphone. "We'll discuss that if we come to it! For now, follow the new rules! I'll be enforcing them, so I don't recommend trying to be slick." She snapped, ending the townspeople's discussion with King Julien.

King Julien looked back around and saw no smiles. He saw apprehension and fear and he wondered why. He was supposed to be the fun and dance-loving king. He inspired the same in his people. But he couldn't, not under these circumstances. Were they losing faith in him?

He was silent as Clover walked him back to his hut.


	8. King Who?

"I need to prove to the peoples I'm not like Uncle!" King Julien exclaimed when Clover came up in front of him and held her hands out. He was dragging Boombox to the clearing, where he planned to cut it on and host a party to raise the kingdom's morale. He looked ridiculous, alone and dragging the heavy boombox behind him. His fur was unkempt and greasy, which usually happened whenever he was stressed, and his tail was rigid and matted. Yet, Clover couldn't disagree more with the plan to boost the kingdom's spirits.

Clearly, based on his horrid appearance, something needed to be done! But Clover would have none of it.

"King Julien, it's a really bad idea. If parties can attract foosas, I'm sure they can attract furless, too. Do you want them to come and handpick lemurs?" She wrapped her tail around one of his legs to prevent him from walking past her, and raised a questioning brow at him. Her arms were crossed in a show of disbelief. "This is a bad idea, King Julien." She shook her head as if to prove her point.

"Clover, I don't know if your brainy bits understand but, I can't have the peoples thinking I'm going to run the kingdom like Uncle did! He's taken the kingdom and held us all hostage at 'Feartopia,' for Frank's sake! Really upsetting to be compared to someone like that, you know, Clover." King Julien set Boombox down and crossed his arms. He could play that game too! "And when he was king, everyone had to be silent all the time. If I remember correctly, you weren't even allowed to speak if spoken to! Maybe I should make that a rule again." He gave her a pointed look, and shook his leg harshly to throw her tail off.

Clover's expression was unreadable. She replied in an incredulous tone, "Are you serious? Maurice is at the hospital still, and I'm the only one around who's still helping you! I haven't seen Mort in days. And I'm just trying to help protect the kingdom and you pull that card?" She slapped the ground with her tail in frustration. Her lips were curled in an ugly expression as she growled, "Go have your party, Your Majesty." She thrust a finger in his face, and then she dropped to all fours and ran into the trees, kicking up decaying leaves from the forest floor. King Julien looked sorrowfully after her, feeling bad in a way he didn't quite understand.

"Well that's fine! Who needs you for a party anyway?" he shouted, balling a fist after her and stamping a foot. Muttering as he turned around to face the clearing again, he picked Boombox back up. Half with the machine over his back, he hobbled into the clearing, setting the device in the center. He used his tail in a swift move to click the buttons and turn on the sweet tunes. The ultra bass pumped and the song flowed into the clearing.

"C'mon, peoples! It's been too long since we had a proper party, let's do it!" He called out, shaking his body and waving his tail in a sexy, smooth motion. He carried on for a few moments, expressing his fluid, expert dance moves before he realized nobody was joining him. _Not even Mort!_

He paused and looked around, raising his arms in a confused gesture. "Why isn't anyone else… dancing?" And where was Mort, anyway? The king realized then he hadn't seen the mousy lemur in a while.

A few brave lemurs ventured out their huts and approached King Julien. "Are you sure it's safe enough to be… dancing out here, like this?" A black and white lemur asked, his tail tucked between his legs as he walked. His crimson eyes were nervously darting back and forth, and when a furless machine far in the distance gave an unusually loud growl, the lemur ducked, his chest heaving to a point where he almost appeared to be hyperventilating.

King Julien raised a hand and opened his mouth to answer only to be cut off by the creaking noise of moving tree branches, and the grating, growing noise of furless equipment. King Julien dared to look behind him, and, as well as being surprised by how thin the forestry was in _that_ direction, he saw a tree leaning in _their_ direction.

Leaves shook and shivered as dust sprayed from where a machine was eating into the tree's trunk. Scissoring, silver teeth were breaking through the tree's smooth trunk. King Julien's tail fell limp against the forest floor as he watched the event. He felt as if his heart had stopped, and he was frozen until he heard someone shout his name.

Back to his senses, he went to run out the way of the tree's fall line when he noticed lemurs running out of a hut just underneath the tree's path. The flimsy, bark-hewn hut would be no match for a heavy, hard log. Thinking just how much praise he received when he saved a baby lemur from a falling tree months prior, and how he wouldn't be able to live with himself if lemurs died when he had the opportunity to save them, he dove to the hut's door and wrenched it open quickly, swinging the lemurs inside of it out and shoving them to safety. There were four total.

King Julien then sprang away from the door, pushing off it to gain momentum. He made it just far enough to get out of the tree's way, but even then, the tip of his tail was caught underneath the log. The sound of it hitting the clearing was unimaginably loud. It felt as if the very earth beneath him groaned. He yelped in pain when he attempted to run (though nobody could have possibly heard him above all the noise), only then looking back to see his caught tail.

The lemurs he had saved shared a worried look between them, then moved forward and began to push on the log in hopes of freeing his tail. The four lemurs were nothing more than common brown lemurs; two were fairly tall and middle-aged, possibly a married pair. The other two were adolescents, possibly their children or younger siblings. They shoved and shoved as hard as they could, and they finally succeeded.

The king scrabbled at the ground in his hurry to get out from under the tree. He panted as he looked back, his eyes wide in shock. He realized in that moment, looking at the aged palm tree covering their once safe clearing, that Clover and Crimson had been right. They had no choice. They had to leave, now.

The largest blow of the situation was that the tree had landed on Boombox. The red and yellow machine lay in a metallic heap beneath the upper branches. King Julien looked at it in dismay, his ears falling flat against the top of his head. They pricked again when he heard the babbling sounds of furlesses speaking to one another.

In a hurry, he pointed to the tallest of the lemurs he had saved. "I need you to find Clover and tell her we're leaving. I'll go talk to the peoples at the hospital. _Everyone else!_ Meet at the bottom of my tree with the metal bird in it, and do it fast! Get your behinds into it, people!" He didn't give the lemur a chance to object as he turned and darted to go to the hospital at the rockier parts of the beach along their western borders.

When he reached the hospital, King Julien was greeted by Rob. The red-furred lemur grinned (at least, on one side - combined injuries from Mort as well as his natural look from old age had left one side of his face unresponsive), and opened his arms wide. "King Julien! I was hoping to see you today. Maurice is doing much better, almost ready to leave, even. I think Dr. Snake was going to release him soon…" Rob sucked in hard, a habit he had picked up due to his somewhat unresponsive jaw, which often led to long dribbles of drool.

King Julien, after ensuring he was a few steps away from Rob at all times, nodded. "That's great news! Because… I kind of need him to come with me anyway. And you and Dr. Snake." He pointed at Rob and then deeper into the cave. "Because… I don't know how updated you guys keep up here, all inside this stuffy -"

"CAVE!" Dr. Snake shouted, his tongue twitching as he lowered his head to King Julien's height. He gave a broad, overjoyed grin. "Why, hello, Mr. King Julien. So nice to see you!"

King Julien was ducking away from the cobra, his tail wrapped around himself in an attempt at calming himself down. "Dr. Snake, love you man, but you gotta stop that whole cave… screaming thing, it freaks me out, dude." King Julien sidestepped from Rob and Dr. Snake, and took a deep breath. "Okay, so here's what's all going on. The furless are getting closer, and are coming into the clearing, where all the peoples usually are. We have to move, and you guys and whatever patients you may have here… we need to go. Okay?"

Rob tilted his head at him. "Sure, Julie, but… did something happen? You don't seem so fun right now." He wrinkled one side of his nose and coughed. "You smell like dust. And your fur looks gross. You never let your fur get gross…"

"My kingdom's in trouble! How you think I'm doing?" King Julien's fur ruffled as he sarcastically answered Rob's question. When he saw how Rob shrunk back at his words, King Julien took yet another deep breath and straightened his crown, smoothing the fur on his head. "Seriously, I'm sorry. But we do need to move. I don't want anyone…" he paused, thinking of Boombox. He resumed with, "Anyone else... to get hurt."

"Of course, King Julien," Dr. Snake smiled at him while his ruby tongue flicked. "Phantom, if you'd go make sure all the patients are able to move…"

"Of course!" Rob sucked in his saliva again and bowed to Dr. Snake. He then wobbled away, back into the patient rooms of the cave. His heavy footsteps echoed against the walls.

King Julien anxiously awaited his return. He'd never admit it, but he desperately needed Maurice's advice, and was a bit frazzled from being away from him for so long (and potentially having nearly been crushed…). Even if it had been his job, Maurice had been his caretaker for as long as he could remember - his parents had rarely interacted with him, leaving the aye-aye in charge most of the time…

Rob returned with a few dazed looking brown lemurs, and Maurice. Maurice was limping a bit, and looked almost as confused as the rest of the lemurs, but was otherwise in great condition and able to move on his own.

"Maurice!" King Julien called, opening his arms wide and grinning. "I've needed you buddy! Glad to see you're alright!"

"Well, aside from the concussion and partly broken leg… yeah, I'm alright," Maurice shrugged. "Rob says the furless are getting closer? Is that true?" Maurice tilted his head in curiosity, moving forward quickly.

"Too close. They hurt my royal tail! This ringed, fluffy tail is one of a kind, man!" He raised his tail and flailed it a bit in their faces, causing Rob to sneeze. At that moment in time, his tail was less than fluffy or royal - in fact it was clumped and matted, but the king seemed to not notice. King Julien kinked his tail over his back again, and then focused back on the situation at hand. "Anyway, the peoples are in danger, so I'm moving the kingdom. Maurice, why didn't you suggest that before?" King Julien pointed an accusatory finger at the aye-aye, his happy expression gone.

"I did. So did Clover. Many times."

"Quiet with your doubts, Mo-Mo! To the bird's tree! And no climbing up it, seriously, I have no idea what trees those furless are after." King Julien shivered, the fur on his back standing upright.

King Julien marched through the crowd that had gathered at the base of his baobab tree. Maurice was waddling after him as fast as his short legs could carry him. Urgent and confused whispers filled King Julien's ears, but he silenced the gathered lemurs by touching their noses with his tail as he passed by. Raising a bony arm he had retrieved from the skeleton in his metal bird before arriving, he gained their attention. When most eyes were on him, he pointed to Maurice.

The aye-aye raised a shell-carved horn and blew it, a resonating, deep sound exiting the end of it. "Presenting the illustrious King Julien the Thirteenth, self-proclaimed lord of the lemurs… etcetera, etcetera, King Julien everybody!"

He was met with grins and twitching tails, but no noise. Among the gathered lemurs, King Julien saw Clover watching him from the back. Her expression was once again unreadable, but she was watching him intently all the same.

King Julien swished his behind back and forth, and pointed up with the bony arm. "Alright, peoples! We may be moving, but it is by no means permanent! We will be back and we will fight these aliens off! But for now, peoples, we're moving down by the beach!" King Julien hopped onto the baobab tree's trunk, clinging to it with his dexterous fingers. "Once there, we come up with a plan to take our jungle back!" He shouted the last of the statement, pointing to the crowd with the bony arm. He nodded his head to the beat of the growing cheering, smiling all the while.

He was by no means anything like his uncle. He would protect his people, and he would do it right. They'd regroup, then they'd fight. This was his kingdom. And nobody was taking it from him or his people!

"I'm with you every step, Your Majesty," Clover called above the noise, pushing her way to the front of the crowd. She stood straight and saluted him. "I knew you'd see reason… eventually, anyway." She smirked and rolled her eyes.

"I hate to end the celebration but, I hear furless machines literally just a few trees away! Let's go!" Maurice yelled and motioned for the lemurs to go in his direction. King Julien nodded and hopped down from the tree. The king and his advisor headed in the western direction, the kingdom (or what was left of it, seeing how many lemurs had been captured by the furless…) tailing him.

In their excitement and King Julien's determination to stay adored by his people, he had lost count of one particular lemur. Crimson was nowhere to be seen among the crowd, and nobody had any plans to look for her. She had all but disappeared.

* * *

 **Indeed, I am alive!**


	9. Framed

Kirk looked at the cages at the back of the truck. He grunted and raised his balled fist, rubbing the underside of his nose. Any lemurs considered threatened or less on the conservation status scale were to be caught and relocated. Any threatened or higher on the conservation status scale were to be radio collared and released, and avoided at all costs during construction - they weren't allowed to so much as pet them after collaring them.

The cheap horse trailer had been all his construction company had to spare for transporting the lemurs. The wire cages were donated from a research facility. He looked to his rusted, dark blue SUV that was barely connected to it. The ruddy, corroding hitch was dangerously loose. He couldn't complain though. The truck had also been donated by his company, without any charge to him. If it broke, he'd just fix it in silence. He was sure if he reported any breakages he would have to pay out of pocket for them.

Kirk dusted his hands off against his once white pants, leaving brown-black splotches on the thighs, and made his way to the driver's cab. Many multicolored, small eyes followed his every move; the lemurs in the stacked wire cages were watching him. There were so many of the damn animals, why did his construction company care? Surely they couldn't be that endangered, not with how many they'd found!

Muttering under his breath about the ridiculous amount of lemurs, Kirk opened the creaky, rusted door and squeezed into the undersized cab. The ripped, tan leather seat gave a depressed sigh as he sat on it and the air was forced out. He gripped the brown, scuffed steering wheel in his rough hands and pulled the door shut with his foot. The storage pocket at the bottom was broken, meaning he could dig his heel in to reel the door toward him. Flicking the keys, the truck gave a loud groan, the engine sounding as if it were coming back from the dead rather than starting up for the third time that day. Kirk smacked the wheel in irritation, a measly horn giving a forced honk.

He heard rustling in the cages just behind the egregious noises the truck was making, and banged on the hard, metal siding of the truck. "Hush it! You'll be out soon enough… rats." Kirk pressed the gas pedal on the machine and followed the bumpy, upturned soil that passed off as a road. It led to an animal preserve just up the way, and that was where they were supposed to be dropping off the vermin.

The preserve and untamed wilds of Madagascar were separated by a deeply gouged gorge in the earth that spread for several miles. In fact, it was everywhere on the side of the gorge that wasn't the preserve they were supposed to be logging and working on.

It would take months, potentially years, at this rate, however. It seemed everywhere they worked lemurs were underfoot. Earlier, he had had to chew a worker out for nearly crushing a small group of them by carelessly sawing without observing the area first. A collared ring-tailed lemur had barely made it out, and the animals had been in clear mortal danger.

The pay would be negligible compared to all the work. He looked at the grungy rearview mirror and gritted his teeth. The horse trailer was swaying dangerously across the dirt path, bouncing on hiccups in the road. He saw the smaller cages inside bouncing, too, and could hear the calls of many lemurs together. It was a whooping cry that grated his very soul, it felt like; it was incredibly annoying.

He slowed the truck as they came to a bridge. The elderly, wrought bridge was the only safe connection between the wildlife preserve and the wilds of southerly Madagascar. The cavernous gorge that yawned between them was a naturally occurring one, brought on by a coursing river that had settled in the lowland. The river still raged, pounding against the rocks, driving deeper and deeper into the earth - serving only to deepen the depths between the two lands, and the air the bridge stood over.

He slowly brought the truck forward, carefully driving it across the wide, worn metal platform. He heard the horse trailer's wheels screech as they crossed, the lemurs inside vocalizing to any other primate that could hear them. Unfortunately, the only primates their calls fell on were other trapped lemurs, and Kirk.

Once they were over the wrought, dangerous bridge, Kirk let out a breath of relief he didn't realize he had been holding. He came to a stop once his truck and the horse trailer were fully off the bridge and, with shaking hands, got out of the cab. He slammed the truck's door shut and stomped away from it and to the horse trailer. Once there, he grabbed ahold of the side of the trailer and shook it as wildly and hard as he could. He shouted a wordless cry of anger and glowered at the trapped lemurs, clenching his jaw once he'd finished hollering.

When he finished, he let go and instead pointed at them. "You are not worth this. There's hundreds of thousands of you, and you are not worth my skin!" He kicked the trailer, and turned around, marching back to the cab of the truck. "Yeah, see? I can shout too!" He called when he heard one of the lemurs begin to cry out. He ignored the wide eyes of the other lemurs staring back at him, and their fluffed, bushed tails. Their fear meant nothing to him. They were vermin, and as long as he believed that, it nullified any feeling he may have had for them.

He drove the rest of the botched, dirt road in silence. When he came to a stop by several other trucks, he slammed the door behind him and approached the other workers. One straightened his ball cap so that the visor was over his face fully, and the other held a hand to block the intense sunlight. The trees were sparser along the road, so the hot, harsh Madagascar sun beamed down on them in full force.

"Another load?" The first one said, screwing his face up in dismay. "This is ludicrous."

"I'm aware," Kirk growled, snapping his fingers to get their attention. The two men trained their eyes on him and waited. Kirk nodded and, before speaking, took a deep breath. "We can't keep doing this. This will take years, and we won't get all the money on that stupid contract because I know we'll give up long before we're done. So, boys… listen up."

Kirk reached into a pocket on his mud-caked, white pants, retrieving a tattered and bent square of folded up paper. He hurriedly unfolded the document, flattening it out as best he could on the ground. It was a poorly drawn map of the area they were meant to be logging and emptying, with the gorge, bridge, and nature preserve highlighted as well. The southwestern coastlines were visible, too.

Kirk pointed to the area they were meant to be logging. "If we cut the vegetation and trees out from the edges around where we're working everywhere but the gorge, we'll make a clear line of where we're working. Right?" He gestured to the shorter of the two workers.

"Uh… yeah, right," the worker nodded dumbly.

"Now, that also means if, say… for a totally non-specific example a fire were to start in this area… There'd be no way for it to spread out of where we're supposed to chop all these trees. It'll burn everything. Stumps, trees, leaves, sticks, even those little weeds we'd spend six months working to rip out of the soil." Kirk hopped up, clasping his hands together and laughing. "Our 'work' will be done in a few weeks. We'll get extra danger pay, plus everything on the contract. We'll be rich."

"What about the lemurs?" A portly, paler-skinned man approached them with an empty cage. He had been working on unloading the lemurs as they spoke to one another. "We can't just burn them all alive… Can we?"

"Of course we can, if it's a wildfire," Kirk raised a finger and pointed at them each. "We set this fire. But we tell nobody. As far as we know, it started before we even got here and just picked up steam one day. This is a wildfire."

"But… you just said we were going to start it," a skinny, tall man with dark eyes furrowed his brows at Kirk, crossing his arms. "If we start it, how's it wild?"

Kirk pressed his palm to his head and growled. "It's not going to be an ACTUAL wildfire, you morons! We're going to set it, lie and say it was a wildfire, so we get extra pay and get out of here."

"But we'll kill so many lemurs!" The man carrying the cage dropped it and gaped at Kirk stupidly. "We - I can't do that!"

"You'll have enough money when this is done to buy yourself a pet lemur if you wanted!" Kirk snapped. "Now, are you in, or what? Those idiot scientists back in the van don't need to know, and neither do any of the other workers. Let it surprise them." Kirk snatched the map up off the ground, folding it back up and stuffing it into his pocket.

The man who had protested the idea went silent, retrieving the cage he had dropped with a steep expression of sorrow. The other men left with a grin on their face, laughing as they helped unload the lemurs from Kirk's horse trailer. The primates would have their cages opened in the forestry, and then they would race away, as far from the humans as they could.

Kirk watched them with a curled lip. "Best run, you little pests. Your friends won't be so lucky."


	10. Borderline

King Julien was curled beneath the little protection from the sunlight they had. They had moved away from the hearth of the jungle and down by the oceanfront. The trees were sparser, smaller, and held less fruit. The sands were blisteringly hot against their padded feet, and the salty spray from the ocean served only to sting their eyes and noses. The sky, while beautiful with its endless, vast blueness, yawned over them without a single cloud - which meant no hope of rain to cool the beach.

Despite the clear issues with the beach home, King Julien disallowed anyone to go more than a few feet into the trees. The past few days of living at the beach seemed to change him, and Clover wasn't sure it was for the better. Their king was paranoid and careful - and careful was something the young ring-tailed lemur had never been.

She paced the sands, ignoring the stinging the heat brought to her pads. She needed to do something to calm him down. He was continuously worried by his people who were beginning to fight over food, and even the small puddles of freshwater they found. She paced the length of the beach, her tail dragging in the hot, soft sand until it gave a characteristic twitch.

"Tail twitch! Never wrong," she said reflexively, and to nobody in particular. She glanced back at her lengthy tail, watching as her fur fluffed in anticipation. She thought for a few more seconds before raising a paw, an idea striking her. "Of course! I can scan the new borders again. I can tell him I've found nothing wrong, and then he'll have to calm down! Perfect." She looked to the towering edge of jungle and then darted into the undergrowth. Their new territory encompassed about ten feet into the jungle, and the entire stretch of beach that pressed against their old territory.

The beach they could all observe easily, but the trees weren't quite that easy to see through. The furless hadn't made it that far, and even with that threat still present, that didn't nullify King Julien's other consistent threats. While nobody had noticed until after their move to the beach, Crimson had mysteriously disappeared. They had been forced to assume the furless took her, and leave, but Clover had a sneaking suspicion her sister was up to no good.

The crowned lemur investigated every inch of the border, sniffing every leaf, turning over every stone, and investigating every strange occurrence. She stopped when she reached a tree that held the unmistakable scent of her sister. Crimson had been here. Her tail gave an involuntary convulsion, and Clover smiled slightly.

"I'll find you yet, Crimson."

With that, Clover followed the trail, keeping her senses keen and footsteps light. She didn't know what Crimson had planned, and she had to pay attention to her surroundings. One misstep into a trap and she would leave her small, weak kingdom utterly defenseless. She paused when she heard leaves rustle and undergrowth move that were not from her. She flicked her ears, listening carefully and her green eyes following the sounds.

Finally, from behind a broad-leafed, low bush, Crimson stood up. She shook, throwing twigs and stems from her fur, and smiled at her sister. "It's fun watching you so uptight, Clo-Clo."

"Crimson, where did you go?" Clover demanded, standing to her full height and pointing an accusatory finger at her. "And what do you have planned? You can't tell me you running off in all this commotion was a coincidence, Crimson. Not this time. And King Julien isn't here to stop me." Clover grinned and took a step forward.

Crimson backed up, flattening her ears against her skull. "I wouldn't do that," Crimson growled, "because I know something happening you want to know about."

"What do I need to know that you know, Crimson?" Clover yelled, stomping her left foot on the ground. "Unless it directly threatens King Julien or this kingdom, I don't care!"

"It threatens both of those," Crimson crossed her arms and lashed her tail. "Now, are you going to follow me, or yell at me some more? I'm pretty sure you can do it on the way there, too." Crimson raised a brow at her sister, her ears rising again.

Clover's posture loosened, and she gave a growl of frustration when she finished deliberating. If Crimson knew something that threatened the kingdom, then she needed to know, too. "Alright," Clover nodded, "alright. Take me wherever it is we need to go."

Crimson smiled, and started running. Clover followed, surprised by her sister's pace. Crimson never moved so fast unless it was absolutely necessary. This had to be quite serious, indeed. The jungle whirled past them, and Clover narrowly avoided the low-hanging twigs and sharp, spiny plants that grew from the trunks of the trees, or the tangled, straining bushes that grew from the forest floor. Several times they had to stop to free Crimson from vines that had managed to wrangle her down by her feet.

They didn't pause otherwise until they were feet away from several tall, looming furless. The furless were roaring and speaking to one another, using sounds and phrases that made no sense to either of the lemurs. But even before they moved, Clover caught the smell of smoke in the air, and her eyes widened as the humans did get out the way.

Luscious, red flames licked at the forest just feet away from the two lemurs. It ate at the plants, bending trees and breaking branches in its wake. Clover gasped, flattening herself to the ground. "Get down, Crimson!" She hissed. "Smoke rises, and if you breathe too much in it'll knock you out!"

"I'm not the one you need to worry about, sister," Crimson gave a sweet laugh, touching Clover's shoulder with her lengthy tail.

Clover had only a few seconds to look behind her when she saw foosas rushing towards her. The felines didn't take any notice of her, in fact, they seemed to all but ignore her as they ran overtop of her and through the flames. The furless had dissipated into their loud machines, and the foosa were following. Clover curled into a ball to prevent their claws from injuring her severely, but the weight of many foosa running over her began to hurt and she felt their outstretched claws dig into her sides. Finally, one curious foosa did stop and take notice of her.

It sniffed her, and after getting shoved by a hurrying, larger foosa, it picked her up in its jaws and started running again. Clover struggled and kicked at the cat, managing to force the foosa to drop her, but in the midst of the forestry that was ablaze.

The hot, crackling flames burned closer and closer, eating through the hot, dry forest easily. Clover was forced to follow the foosa to save her own life. She had no idea what would happen to King Julien, or the rest of the kingdom - she could only hope they could find a way out.

Crimson watched from the branch of a tree as the flames picked up speed on the forestry only a few feet away. Clover had gotten caught in the pack of foosa, and the furless were skidding away in the belly of one of their loud machines. She watched with round, excited eyes as the blaze spread. When it began to lick at the base of the tree she was in, she bounced to the next tree, and continued that way until she got far enough ahead of the flames.

It would take the fire a while to spread over all of their exits. And while any sane lemur would be rushing to warn the others and get everyone out, Crimson was no sane lemur, and King Julien was the last lemur she wanted to see get out of this alive. She threw a look over her shoulder at the crawling blaze, and laughed. She'd follow the fire, keeping low to the ground to stop from passing out due to the smoke, and ensure it covered their every exit before warning the others.

She wanted to see that stupid, humiliating, back-stabbing ring-tailed lemur's face as he watched his home go up in flames and his very life was stolen from him - even if it meant she went down with him.


	11. Fire and Fury

Maurice handed the water-filled coconut shell to King Julien and watched, his brows furrowed, as the lemur took a few small sips before setting it aside. He sat up, enjoying the shaded patch of sand. A large tree with broad leaves covered him from the harsh rays of the sun. He was settling in to sleep a bit more when the sound of squabbling lemurs wrenched him from his sleepy stupor.

"Maurice," King Julien grumbled. He figured it was just a few lemurs fighting over a mango or something.

Maurice nodded, already knowing what he wanted without having to hear any more, and turned around to leave the shaded patch of sand. His thick, black tail was dragging in the sand, and he looked miserable. King Julien thought he had to be, it was incredibly hot at the beach. He was hot too. In fact, he was beginning to think about moving into the trees despite the furless and their machines. It was just _that_ hot.

Maurice disappeared into the trees, and the sounds of fighting lemurs only intensified. King Julien watched as a writhing ball of red, black, and tan fur emerged from the trees. They rolled and turned over in the sand, spraying it high into the air. King Julien sputtered when he was dusted with the substance and shook himself off. He raised a paw and demandingly growled, "M-hmm!"

The lemurs separated after King Julien repeated himself, and louder. Crimson, Maurice, and Tod stood at attention. Crimson looked worse for wear, as her fur was matted and dusted black; Maurice looked to be missing a few clumps of fur on his tail; meanwhile, Tod appeared totally unscathed and as lifeless as ever. "What is all the fighting about? I need to get my beauty sleep, people," King Julien asked, thoroughly annoyed. "And where have YOU been, Crimson? Where's Clover?" He pointed an accusatory finger at the crowned lemur and waited impatiently for her response.

"I came as fast as I could, King Julien. I was separated a while back, and then your beloved Clover and every one else in this kingdom was intent on keeping me out. It's hard to give help nowadays," Crimson spat, blood dribbling from her muzzle. She dusted her fur off and curled her tail around her feet, the tip flicking in annoyance. "But, that's not the point. King Julien, a fire is engulfing the forest and only getting faster as we speak!" She turned and pointed toward the forest.

King Julien scrutinized the scene for a few moments, watching the sky for any signs of smoke. He was almost ready to scold Crimson for making up very unfunny stories about wildfires when he saw the faintest curls of smoke in the distance. The light coils of smoke gave way to thicker, more blatant clouds of choking, gray-black smog. His eyes widened and his fur fluffed in fright.

"Crimson! Why didn't you say so sooner?" King Julien didn't wait for a response, and looked to Maurice and the other present lemurs. "Maurice, gather the peoples, we need to go."

"Go where?" Maurice was panicking equally as much. "The forest is on fire, and that's our only way out!"

Crimson interrupted them. "I was there when the fire started, the furless started it. I know how to get past it. You'll just have to trust me," Crimson growled to the king and his advisor. "I can get you all out, alive." He blue eyes glittered in a way that made King Julien feel uneasy, but he didn't have time to think about that. He had never been quite so frightened in his life. He thought that facing a fossa would have been much easier than this.

"I hope you're right about that," Maurice muttered. He didn't seem to forgive the feeling quite so easily.

"Maurice!" King Julien snapped, "gather the peoples!" he repeated, desperately.

"Right, right!" Maurice turned around and darted off, leaving large, frantic footprints in the sand of the beach. It wasn't long before the aye-aye returned with the handful of lemurs that remained after the furless invasions. They all looked as wide-eyed and frightened as their king was, and King Julien felt sorry for them. He felt sorry for himself, too. He wished the furless had never came to begin with. Now they had set the forest ablaze. Just what was their intention with that?

The lemurs looked at him worriedly and expectantly, and he cleared his throat to speak. "We're going to be leaving in just a few minutes, and we're going to be following Crimson. Don't question it, just do! If we get separated, try to find her." He looked to the crowned lemur in question and tilted his head. "Ready?"

"About time," Crimson tisked and ran into the undergrowth of the forest. The lemurs frantically followed her, leaving King Julien and Maurice to be among the last few lemurs out. King Julien brought up the rear, trying to keep himself upright and making sure the other lemurs were following Crimson correctly.

Maurice glanced up at the king as they ran, though standing on two legs while trying to run at Crimson's pace was proving difficult. "You know, I'm surprised. I'm surprised you weren't the first lemur to go bolting into the trees and out of here before anyone else could have even blinked."

"I have to take care of them," King Julien insisted in response, panting.

"Well, yeah, you do, but… normally Clover and I have to yell at you until you realize that," Maurice laughed nervously, and then broke into a fit of coughing. King Julien soon began to cough too, because he was smelling the harsh tang of smoke. Up above, he could see the clouds of blackness, and he distantly heard the dim crackle of fire eating at branches, leaves, and undergrowth.

The truth was, King Julien understood full well how to care for his people. He simply found it hard to admit when he was wrong, or genuinely didn't understand some concepts at first. But it was easy to understand that a fire was dangerous, and his people relied on him for protection. Not only all of that, but it was easy to hide from the truth behind a facade of ignorance. Life was easier and more fun that way, too. Where was the fun in constantly worrying, constantly living in fear?

King Julien and Maurice finally fell forward and onto all fours. There was simply no way they were going to keep up otherwise. King Julien's ears flicked and quivered as he heard the crackling and rough sounds of fire grow closer. Surely, Crimson wasn't taking them closer to the flames? He jumped up as he ran and gave a quick glance around, and he realized that Crimson was not intentionally taking them closer to the flames. They were spreading in such a way through the trees that it almost looked like the fire was chasing them.

They kept rushing through undergrowth and growing closer to the blaze until Crimson abruptly came to a screeching halt. The other lemurs practically fell over themselves attempting to stop as quickly as she did. King Julien managed to stop without falling, and threw an intense look to Crimson. "So, what now?" he panted, his tail lashing about behind him.

"There's a way through here, but it's small. Keep your tails and ears down, and crawl!" Crimson barked, gesturing to an old, decrepit log decaying on the forest floor. The old log was also wet, and as disgusting and grimy as it were, it would catch fire very slowly if at all. Crimson helped the lemurs through, even having to step between some when multiple tried to go in at a time.

King Julien watched and helped. Once most of the lemurs were through, King Julien looked to Crimson and smiled. He had no idea what changed her heart to be so kind, but he was glad for it. He went to crawl into the disgusting log, bracing himself for its slimy, cold touch, but a force suddenly bowled him over from his left side.

"What was that for-" He was cut off when he saw who had done it. Crimson was standing in front of him, fur fluffed out, ears angled backwards, and teeth bared in a twisted snarl. Blood still was dripping from her muzzle, and a few drops landed on King Julien's chest. Her lashing tail threw dust up every time it passed the earth due to the force at which it was twitching. King Julien stared at her incredulously for a moment, stunned and confused.

"You," Crimson spat. "You. All that matters in King Julien's world is _you_. If it wasn't for _you_ , I would still be normal. If _you_ had simply accepted me, then I wouldn't have had to hurt Clover to get you out here. But no, King Julien, all there's room for in your world… is _you_." Crimson advanced on him, and King Julien scooted backwards.

"Crimson, this is crazy!" he exclaimed finally, looking around at the flames slowly creeping forward. In frustration, he glared at her and spat, " _You're_ crazy!"

Crimson placed a well-aimed smack across his muzzle, stunning him into silence once more. "I may be crazy, but at least I'll die knowing you died, too." She cracked a slackjawed grin and the look of satisfaction on her face made King Julien want to slap her back, but the growing hopelessness of the situation kept him from doing so. And then, he began to hear fire crackling just outside the fallen log, and felt heat reach his tail.

"Crimson, if you don't stop this, we're both going to burn! What good is it if you're dead?" he pleaded desperately.

"Did you even listen to me?" Crimson snarled again, and lashed her tail so hard to the side it thumped against the log's groaning wood. "See? See what I mean?"

She broke into a fit of coughing, and so did King Julien. Through the ear-grating sounds of crackling flames and bowing trees, King Julien heard someone shouting.

"Julien! Crimson! What's goin' on back there?" It was Maurice. Julien tried to shout a response, but a fit of coughing cut him off, as well as Crimson wrapping both of her paw-like hands around his muzzle, digging her claws in to the point her grip was painful.

Just when Julien was certain that Crimson was going to straddle him and hold him there until he died, he heard another voice in the distance, this time even fainter and harder to understand.

"Maurice! Help me… get across that log! My sister... to kill Julien!"

Crimson screeched her rage and let go of King Julien. She reared up instead and slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him down. She darted ahead on all fours and apparently met with Clover halfway through the large, downed log. Dazedly turning over, King Julien watched in awe as the two sisters fought, Clover striking the log enough to create a hole in the side where they were battling. He soon realized that she was trying to knock Crimson outside the hole, into the roaring blaze that rushed overhead. Indeed, the log was beginning to feel uncomfortably hot, and King Julien panted harder and harder and it became even more difficult to see.

Finally, with a fateful kick to the chest, Clover propelled her sister through the gap. Shrieks of pain told King Julien her grisly fate. He looked to Clover, who was bloodied and smudged with smoke, and felt a wave of relief ride over him. He smiled his happiness and began to limp toward her, when the top of the log split open and fire began to reach inside, slowly but surely. It was as if it had fingers, and they were trying to pry the log further open.

"King Julien!" Clover shouted. "Come on!"

Before she finished speaking, it became so difficult to see, Julien just shut his eyes to stop the confusing imagery. He felt his chin hit the hot, grimy bottom of the log, and everything went silent.


	12. The End of Stately Manners

When he woke up, King Julien fully expected to be dead. He thought for a good few minutes that he was a ghost in the next life, until he realized the next life didn't look very appealing. He was on a shoddy bed made of thatch, and there was nothing that even remotely resembled a camp around him. But there were other lemurs. Some were tired and still spattered with smoke stains, but others looked freshly cleaned and were collapsed onto a flat forest floor, asleep, nestled between trees. As King Julien looked around, he heard footsteps rush over to him and Clover exclaimed, "He's awake!"

Looking up at her, he winced and lowered his ears. "You look like… like… what the dung beetles roll around." He said as politely as he could manage.

"Yeah, you don't look much better yourself," she shot back, a coy grin on her face. "We got ya out. And most of who was left of us. And even better, we found the rest of the village! There's just… one slight problem." She twiddled her thumbs and looked down.

"And what's that?" King Julien asked, dreading the answer.

"There were more lemurs here than just the ones we lost. They call themselves 'pets,' or said that they were at some point. They wear that same weird collar like the one you had," Clover said, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "They… the first lemur they said to help them band together was… well. Mort."

"Mort?!"

"Yes… they think Mort is their king. Even after he's tried explaining that you're really the king."

King Julien's muzzle opened and shut like a fish out of water, and he went to stand up. He winced at the bolt of pain that shot through his legs, and Clover pushed him back down gently. "A burning branch fell on your feet while we were trying to get you free… it hurt you a bit. Look, we're going to figure this out, okay? But not today. Get some rest."

King Julien sighed, and nodded. "Yes… fine. Where's Maurice? Is he alright?"

"A little bit of a cough, but he's fine otherwise," Clover assured him. An awkward bit of silence passed, and Clover began to talk again. "You know, I'm proud of you. Maurice told me how you didn't rush the second Crimson said she knew the way out. You actually helped your fellow lemurs. But," she abruptly got a deeper tone to her voice, and cuffed him on the ear, "you're still stupid for trusting my sister in the first place. You should have dispatched her the minute she showed her face, and then bolted."

"Ow!" Julien yelped, giving Clover a feigned hurt look. He then got a more worried expression and asked, "did she… did she actually die in that fire?"

"I don't know." Clover looked down at her feet and shuffled. She didn't say anything else on the subject, but cuffed him on the ear yet again. "That's just because I wanted to. Now rest! We'll fix this kingship nonsense later. Let yourself heal."

"You too, I'm still king to you," Julien said, proudly raising his chin when she gave him an indignant glare.

* * *

 **That brings All Hail King Julien: Hostile Takeover to a close! The lemurs are all safe in a new territory they don't know, though King Julien's leadership is in question, and Crimson's fate is… unknown! :D (don't you love me?)**

 **Sorry it took so long, guys. Frankly, I got distracted, and then… well, Life(TM) happened. But that said, the repeated… "Please finish!" notifications I was getting in my email made me feel guilty, and I spent the free time in some school class periods getting this written. I had most of chapter 11 already written, but I did not feel it was up to par and so did not post it. Also, I fixed some errors that I had (referring to Maurice as an eye-eye instead of aye-aye… shivering over here, don't mind me). This story was never supposed to take this long and was meant to be a shorter thing, so I hope chapter 11 made up for that since it was all fire, action, more fire! Hope you guys enjoyed, and if you did, let me know with a review (you do not even have to sign in… *points to bottom of the page* can leave it anonymously!).**


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